The Roman Catholic Church played a decisive role in Poland's
struggle against communism. While Primate Stefan Wyszynski's
"non possumus" and Karol Wojtyla's efforts--as a cardinal
building the Nowa Huta church, as Pope on the international cold war
stage--are well-known examples of the Church's role in that
struggle, other members of the Catholic hierarchy also played pivotal
parts. A major figure in that struggle was Ignacy Tokarczuk, archbishop
of Przemysl (1966-1993), who died in December 2012. His church-building
program and vigorous support of the Polish opposition elicited communist
invigilation through most of his thirty-three-year episcopal service.

Krzysztofinski's book consists of interviews with the
archbishop. The first two chapters focus on Tokarczuk's birth,
family, youth, and studies in the Kresy (Polish Borderlands) area
including his ordination for the archdiocese of Lwow/Lviv and his early
years as a priest, both in today's Ukraine and after his
communist-induced exile in postwar Poland (Katowice, Olsztyn, and
Lublin). The bishopric of Przemysl was his last appointment. The
subsequent five chapters cover his service to Przemysl, with particular
focus on his illegal church-building program that resulted in 400+ new
churches built in the Przemysl diocese during his tenure; his pastoral
work such as the Millennium of Christianity celebrations and relations
with Greek Catholics/Orthodox; his relations with individuals in his
diocese, including priests who collaborated with the regime; his
activities outside the diocese, such as travels to Rome and his meetings
in Paris with Kultura's Jerzy Giedroy?, especially concerning
Polish-Ukrainian relations; and his support for the Polish opposition,
including the rights of rural dwellers, encounters with Lech Walcsa,
Jacek Kuron, and Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko. The book concludes with two
chapters on Tokarczuk's meetings with Popieluszko and Pope Karol
Wojtyla. It is profusely documented with extended notes and
bibliographical citations that explain Tokarczuk's references and
allusions.

Because of Tokarczuk's robust defense of Polish
Catholics' rights to religious freedom he was the object of
particularly harsh communist repression, ranging from refusals to allow
him to travel abroad (his first ad limina visit was impeded for almost a
decade), through physical attacks by unidentified perpetrators, to the
secret police's elaborate planning in case of Tokarczuk's
anticipated appointment to succeed Wyszynski as Primate. Because
Tokarczuk advocated a good offense as the best way to defend Polish
Catholic rights, he also sometimes proved inconvenient to some
ecclesiastical circles, especially during the conciliatory Ostpolitik of
Paul VI's later years. Tokarczuk discusses meetings in Rome with
such key Vatican foreign policy figures as Luigi Poggi and Agostino
Casaroli, who unsuccessfully pressured him to tone down his opposition
to communism. Archbishop Tokarczuk's hardline helped save Cardinal
Wyszynski from a fate similar to Hungary's Cardinal Mindszenty,
who, as a result of an Ostpolitik deal with Budapest, was eventually
sidelined in exile. In the interview Tokarczuk revealed that after Pope
John Paul II's succession and the abandonment of the Casaroli
pro-Soviet policies, Poggi himself eventually asked Tokarczuk's
forgiveness for pressuring him.

Another interesting part of the book is the recurring theme of
Polish-Ukrainian relations. Tokarczuk narrowly escaped death at the
hands of the UPA [Ukrainian Liberation Army], and during his episcopate
was sometimes criticized for taking over Greek Catholic churches in his
diocese. In his defense, Tokarczuk argues that by taking over these
churches, he actually saved these architectural treasures that would
otherwise have been brought to ruin, as has been the case in Soviet
Ukraine. He also addresses tensions over pastoral care of the Lemki
people, who were largely located in his diocese and who claim separate
identity (neither Polish nor Ukrainian). Finally, he notes that part of
his diocese actually lay in Ukraine. This was a territory over which he
was unable to exercise any pastoral jurisdiction, but because of his
contacts with people there, "I knew that Russia faced the necessity
of internal change, because otherwise there would have been an explosion
within communism itself" (p. 68, my translation).

Scholars such as Sabina Bober in Persona non grata have recently
devoted attention to Tokarczuk's role in ousting the most notorious
institutions of communism. This book provides additional insight into
this important figure and religion's role in bringing down
totalitarianism.

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